1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a ceramic composite, comprising a mixture of infrared-emitting oxides having specific spectral luminance in 3-20 micrometers wavelength range and an effective amount of pyroelectric material that helps enhance infrared emissions of said oxides in said wavelength range, that provides an effective means of improving hydrocarbon fuel efficiency in internal combustion engines for better engine performance with increased torque and power, improved fuel economy, and reduced exhaust emissions. Such ceramics can also be used in other applications that utilize infrared emissions in said wavelength range.
2. Description of Prior Art
According to Organic Chemistry photoexciting hydrocarbons with infrared photons shorter than 20 μm (micrometers) in wavelengths for improving fuel conversion efficiency is scientifically possible and has been proven by the present inventor in laboratory studies.
After years of research the present inventor discovered the use of infrared radiation at 3-14 μm wavelengths, defined as “mid-infrared” by U.S. NASA but “far infrared” in Japanese convention, for enhancing combustion efficiency of hydrocarbon fuel in internal combustion engines and resulted in the inventions of fuel combustion enhancement devices as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,026,788, 6,082,339 and 7,617,815.
These inventions are based on known science. It is recognized in Organic Chemistry that hydrocarbons are infrared-active and absorb multiphotons in 3-20 μm wavelengths causing molecular vibrations. In Photochemistry, enhancement of reaction rates by reactant vibrational excitation had been demonstrated in laboratory dynamics studies. The present inventor has proven the underlining science of infrared-fuel effect in a laminar non-premixed counterflow methane-air flame experimentation to help pinpoint the IR-excitation influences on combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. The present inventor further verified in engine tests that increasing infrared exposure in said wavelengths results in better engine performance.
Though the device as described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,026,788 and 7,617,815 by the present inventor worked adequately for both light duty gasoline and diesel engines, the fuel activation effect became limited in the applications with heavy duty diesel engines, such as in tractors, earth moving equipment, marine vessels, locomotives, or power generators. These applications require irradiating an extensive flow of fuel substance in a very short time interval. It is because of the fact that only a small portion of the fuel substance is used in combustion for generating power, while the majority is utilized as lubricant and coolant in the turbo-pump system for fuel injection. Therefore, an innovative ceramic material with significantly amplified infrared emissions would be required for such applications.
Accordingly, the present inventor started searching issued patents and publications in this field for ideas, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,021,297, 7,036,492, 7,281,526, and 7,406,956, just to name a few. However, the present inventor found that the prior art failed to expressly or implicatively teach the way of making such an infrared-emitting ceramic with amplified luminance in said wavelength range. Therefore, the present inventor had to launch his own research and came up with the present invention.
After three years of intensive research, the present inventor successfully developed a ceramic composite that requires mixing various transition metal oxides, such as zirconia, titanium oxides, cobalt oxides, and others, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,026,788 and 7,617,815 by the present inventor, with an effective amount of pyroelectric material in order to amplify the characteristic spectral luminance of the resultant ceramic composite. The processes also involve mixing, grinding, adding catalyst to the solution, dehydrating, green state forming, settling, pressing, molding, sintering, and room temperature resting.
Transition metal oxides with electrons occupying outer orbits [nd]1-9 [(n+1)s]0-2 have such a unique property that the electrons can be thermally agitated to vibrate, moving between “bonding” (donation of electrons from transition metals) and “back-bonding” (back-donation of electrons to transition metals). The difference in energy levels is about 0.1-0.3 eV, which corresponds to photon emissions in 3-20 μm wavelengths as governed by the following formula: E(eV)=1.2398/λ(μm).
On the other hand, pyroelectric materials have an ability to generate a temporary electrical potential when they are heated or cooled. The change in temperature can slightly modify the positions of atoms within the crystal structure so that the polarization of the material may change. The polarization change gives rise to a temporary potential, although this disappears after the dielectric relaxation time. Nevertheless, this slight polarization change in crystal structure enables the orbital electrons in said transition metal oxides to jump between orbits more easily and frequently. Thus, adding pyroelectric material to the mixture of infrared-emitting oxides helps the resultant ceramic composite capture ambient temperature change and use it to significantly improve infrared emissions.
According to the present inventor's study, there are ten polar crystal structures that posses a temperature-dependent spontaneous polarization and exhibit pyroelectricity, which are sometimes referred as the pyroelectric classes. These crystal structures are 1, 2, m, mm2, 3, 3m, 4, 4mm, 6, 6mm, by their International Hermann-Mauquin notation.
The present inventor has developed prototype ceramic composites by purposely adding various amount of pyroelectric material, about 5-40% by weight, to a mixture of selected infrared-emitting metal oxides. The composite was then sintered at a temperature above 1200° C. The present inventor further discovered experimentally that adding an optimal amount of about 15-25% pyroelectric material would significantly increase the fuel activation effect and thus dramatically improve engine performance.
As described above, the prior art failed to teach the use of a mixture of selected infrared-emitting metal oxides having a specific spectral luminance in 3-20 μm wavelengths and an effective amount of pyroelectric material for boosting infrared emissions in said wavelength range and thus maximizing hydrocarbon fuel combustion efficiency in engines.